Justin Schafer: Finding the Genius Within đ§
Justin Schafer, Grand Member, Founder & Product Leader
Genius.
Itâs a word we've often reserved for the brilliant people we encounter. Not just for the smartest kid in the class, but for those whose brilliance radiates beyond the classroom or county. The polymath who seemed to walk on water and knew everything. The Bill Gates and Elon Musks of this world.
Most of us project amazing traits onto these people, imbuing them with godlike understanding and putting them in a class far different from our own.
But if you look to the root of the wordâa practice I find instructive in all circumstancesâyouâll find itâs literal meaning to be âgenerative powerâ or âinborn nature.â
And as a conscious human being, youâve got that.
Thus every person is a genius in their own right. We all have something we feel weâre naturally great at. And doing that thing activates us. It makes us come alive. It awakens the god within.
Perhaps, though, the people around you have conditioned you to believe you lack any sort of genius. Youâre just an ordinary person.
To hell with them. They are dead wrong. But donât take my word for itâprove it to yourself.
How does one discover oneâs genius?
The âZone of Geniusâ exercise.
Set aside an hour of uninterrupted time and sit silently with a notebook. Think back on your early childhood, adolescence, college, and any professional experiences youâve had so far. Go year by year and recall whatever highlights you can. As particular events or moments leap out at you as something exciting and enrichingâsomething youâd have done for the activity itself, not the accolades that may have come with itâwrite them down.
Donât worry about hitting a certain number. Donât concern yourself with their magnitude or how many people knew about what you did. This is for you, so write out what beckons to you.
With each moment, write down not only what you call the activity, but also what about it excited you. Then, look over that list.
As you note the events youâve written down, you will start to draw connections between these disparate events. You may see themes emergeâcapture those, too. Synthesize whatever is emerging from those pages and run it past your soul. If something starts to light you up, youâre on the right path.
And thatâs all you needâto start down the path. You donât need to have it all figured out right now. But if you can see the types of things that have enlivened you in the past, you can start to attract opportunities to do them again in the future. Youâre onto something. Youâve found your genius.
And if this all sounds fanciful and silly, let me give you my examples and what I loved about them (in roughly chronological order):
- Learning times tables with my dad when I was ~4 ââ¤ď¸ systems that have order and structureâ
- Raising dairy goats as a child when nobody else was interested ââ¤ď¸ practical, resourceful, unconventional ways to do more with less (goats convey outsized benefits for their small stature)â
- Falling in love with old Volkswagens when I was 11ââ¤ď¸ like goats, theyâre efficient, unconventional, and accessible to everyoneâ
- Building a biodiesel reactor for my senior project when i was 18ââ¤ď¸ novel ways to produce energy from what would otherwise be wasteâ
- Learning German, Russian, and Spanish (to varying degrees of competency đ)ââ¤ď¸ understanding the impact of language on shaping our thoughts and self-expression
- Immersing myself in solar energy from ages 23 to 28ââ¤ď¸ efficient, resourceful, rational ways to power our lives
- Rebranding a startup at age 26ââ¤ď¸ attempting to convey an entire idea-set in a single word and icon
- Presenting a product strategy to a hypergrowth startup at age 31ââ¤ď¸ contagiously spreading excitement and optimism about technologyâs potential
- Becoming a husband at 29 and father at ages 32 and 33ââ¤ď¸ sharing my enthusiasm for life and learning with other humans Iâm responsible for
What do these 9 events have in common?
The obvious theme is doing more with lessâtaking novel approaches to reduce scarcity and create abundance. Another is communication: I am activated by spreading the gospel of hope and optimism with those who will hear it. And a third is responsibility: I find fulfillment in planning, organizing, and acting on behalf of the collective good.
So try it yourself. You may be surprised by how awesome you are.